1867 Ad campaign based on product purity
1900 Cecil Aldin posters
1920s Price drop ads
1920s-30s Chocolate Mystery Man appears
1928 Investment begins in Cadbury Dairy Milk ads
1930s Quality, Brand and Value take centre stage
1938 150,000 people take the factory tour
1939 Wartime ads
1951 ‘Bournville Story’ film made
1955 TV advertising begins
1957 Bournville one minute travelogue film made
1959/60 Flake TV advertising begins
1970s Fruit & Nut and Nuts ad campaigns
1983 Launch of Wispa national ad campaigns
1990 Cadbury World opens
1996 Cadbury begin sponsoring Coronation Street
2007 Cadbury ‘Gorilla’ ad premiers
1867
Ads for Cocoa Essence began stressing product purity and are summed up by the slogan ‘Absolutely pure, therefore best’.
1900
Cadbury commissioned popular artist and illustrator Cecil Aldin to produce a series of beautiful posters and press ads.
1920s
Rising volumes and falling transport costs meant that the prices of Cadbury products dropped significantly in the 20s and 30s.
1920s-30s
Cadbury promotions between the wars included the ‘Chocolate Mystery Man’ who gave out free gifts – if you could find him.
1928
Cadbury Dairy Milk poster campaigns used the iconic ‘glass and half’ image to stress its high milk content.
1930s
High-quality, good value and Cadbury’s status as the nation’s favourite brand become cornerstones of the company’s advertising.
1938
By now 150,000 people went on the factory tour every year. It was began in 1902 to give people a personal link with Cadbury.
1939
During the war Cadbury Dairy Milk disappeared. Cocoa and chocolate was under Government control and Ration Chocolate replaced it.
1951
‘The Bournville Story’, a film promoting Cadbury, was made and shown in halls and cinemas around the country.
1955
An ad for Cadbury Drinking Chocolate was one of the very first ads to appear when commercial television began in this year.
1957
Cadbury commissioned thirteen one-minute travelogue films shown as TV ads, each describing the harvesting of a Cadbury ingredient.
1959/60
Flake TV advertising began, with its iconic and sensual theme of a woman enjoying a bar of chocolate on her own.
1970-1974
Sales of Fruit & Nut and Whole Nuts rose 73% due to memorable TV ads (‘Everyone’s a Fruit & Nut Case’, ‘NUTS whole hazel nuts’).
1983
The Wispa launch included TV ads featuring comedians and comic actors such as Mel Smith and Peter Cook talking about the new bar.
1990
Cadbury World opened, a £10 million replacement for impractical factory tours. 350,000 people visited in the first year.
1996
Cadbury began a £10 million annual sponsorship of Coronation Street, reaching a captive audience of eighteen million people.
2007
The Cadbury ‘Gorilla’ ad premiered, immediately becoming one of the most popular and critically acclaimed TV ads of recent years.